Despite not taking the ice this week at WinSport during the annual Flames Development Camp, the second time around is proving as good, if not better than the first for Matvei Gridin.
The Flames first-rounder from 2024 is armed with an NHL deal (signed here a summer ago) and has his sights set on spending the winter here, too, after a 2024-25 campaign that saw him win Rookie of the Year honours in the QMJHL.
“I feel great,” he said during a quick hallway chat Wednesday morning. “I want to try and make the opening roster this year.
“I’m going to work hard this summer and prove that I can.”
It’s that attitude that will serve Gridin well going forward. No stranger to swagger on the ice, his confidence has clearly grown off it, buoyed by a sense of familiarity with his environs.
“It feels good, I’m way more comfortable than last year,” he explained. “With the staff, with the coaches, I feel comfortable.”
Playing with the Shawinigan Cataractes, Gridin enjoyed a stellar season on the ice, leading all QMJHL first-year players with 36 goals and 79 points.
The campaign - his third away from his native Russia - came with it a language barrier, too.
Fluent in English, Gridin admits his French might not quite be up to conversation speed.
“Terrible, terrible,” he chuckled. “It’s a really tough language, actually.
“In the team, all the hockey stuff is in English, so it’s good. Obviously, guys speak in French in the locker-room between each other, but when they speak to me, they speak in English.”
Gridin and the Cataractes came within a win of meeting fellow Calgary prospect Etienne Morin and the Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL final, a defeat was ‘tough,’ but in hindsight, he’s proud of the work he put in, in La Belle Province last season.
“It was a pretty good season for me, I improved my game without the puck, my game on the defensive side,” he said. “A good run for the team, obviously lost in the semis, but overall, it was pretty good.”
From here, the 19-year-old will return to Russia for the rest of the summer, in an effort to come back to camp in September in his best shape.
Ready to make the jump to pro hockey, and take that next step in his career.
“Obviously make a little (more) weight, my strength and improve my game without the puck way more,” he said of his summer work plan.
“To play in the NHL, you’ve got to play great every night.”
